For COVID19 and other patients who are in isolation in intensive care units, caregivers use an average of 66 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) each day. This high number is partially driven by the need to enter patient rooms repeatedly to manage intravenous (IV) pumps that deliver necessary medication and nutrition. By moving the pumps outside of patient isolation rooms, critical care units can preserve their stock of PPE and reduce potential exposure to medical staff. The issue, until last month, was that there was no way to effectively manage the tangled web of lines that flowed to these pumps without risk to patients and caregivers.

To combat this growing need in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, inventors Jane Hartman, APRN-PNP-BC and Nancy Albert, PhD, ACNO Cleveland Clinic Nursing Research and Innovations, worked with Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI) to adapt the High-LineTM for use in the ICU.

Initially conceived to allow hospitalized children more freedom of movement by avoiding IV lines from dragging on the ground, the innovation has been reimagined as an easy-to-use system that enables pumps to be placed exterior to ICU rooms. The High-LineTM consists of a holder with a series of expandable cradles that support tubing, cords, and lines in place. Adaptable to a wide variety of tubing, easy to manufacture, and affordable for health care systems, the High-LineTM allows nurses and doctors to respond to alarms and change medications without having to don PPE.

Working with CCI, Lerner Research Institute’s Medical Device Solutions (MDS), and Case Western Reserve University’s think[box], Hartman and Albert collaborated to evolve the original concept and prototypes of the High-LineTM to quickly implement into clinical practice. After the initial run with MDS and donated parts from think[box], Ryan Nowicki of CCI engaged Protolabs to provide more devices, leveraging their rapid prototyping and on-demand production capabilities to meet clinical need and scale the solution more broadly. As a longstanding partner of CCI, Protolabs donated their time and capabilities to deliver the initial run for testing.

“As an inventor it’s been gratifying, and a bit overwhelming, to watch the evolution of this invention from a sketch to being deployed in a hospital setting,” says Jane Hartman, Principal Inventor of the High- LineTM. “We want to assist in the safety of our colleagues and patients when delivering world-class care to our patients during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.”

Cleveland Clinic is now working to make the device available for other hospitals to use in the fight against COVID-19. If you are interested in using the High-LineTM solution and discussing lessons learned in the trials at Cleveland Clinic, please contact Ryan Nowicki.